This invention relates to the attachment of wheels, towing, and accessory devices to a pontoon water bike having at least one hollow transverse frame tube with exposed ends.
Pontoon water bikes are becoming increasingly more plentiful and practical as an alternative for cycling on roadways. They are used on a variety of waterways including: lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans. They are typically bulky and not easily carried by one person, especially with the addition of any gear, equipment and supplies. Therefore, they are usually conveyed to the water's edge by automobile or the combination of automobile and trailer.
Transportation of a water bike to the water by automobile is burdensome for a number of reasons, including: preparation of the vehicle and the water bike for transport, water access by the vehicle, harsh terrain, available parking, and distance to the water. First, to convey to the water by automobile, the water bike, gear, equipment and supplies must be readied, loaded into or onto a vehicle, and secured for transport. This may require additional equipment, reconfiguration of the vehicle and likely some disassembly of the water bike to make it ready for travel. Second, the desired water entry point must be accessible by the vehicle. Third, there must be parking at the water's edge at the exact point of entry, otherwise the water bike, gear, equipment and supplies will have to be unloaded at the water's edge and the vehicle moved to a suitable parking location. In such a case, the driver would have to leave the water bike and gear unattended by the water's edge while parking the vehicle, then walk back to the water bike from the vehicle after it is parked.
Similarly, conveying a water bike by combination of automobile and trailer is even more burdensome and likely more expensive than loading onto an automobile, as it requires additional cost, time and effort to acquire the trailer, store it, maintain it, and retrieve it for the same purpose and with the same burdens listed above for transporting by automobile.
Conventional transportation by an automobile, with or without a trailer, is especially impractical when the distance to the water is very short. The nature of water bikes, and small watercraft in general, implies not only an economy of size and price, but also an economy of time and effort required to enjoy them. To a water bike user, it would seem reasonable to expect the amount of time and effort required to get the water bike to the water to be proportional to the size of the watercraft and the distance to the water. Practicality suggests that if the trip to the water is shorter by walking or riding a bicycle than the time it would take to load the craft, transport it by automobile, and then unload it at the water's edge, then a pedestrian or bicycle towing solution should be available, thus allowing quicker and easier access to the water without the use of a vehicle and all of the associated additional time and effort required.
The notion of the economy of scale of time and effort relative to the distance from the water is particularly relevant when a water bike owner lives, vacations or camps near the water. For example, many water bike owners live in communities near the water and merely desire to transport their craft a very short distance across their property, down the street, or through the neighborhood. When readying a water bike for a trip of one hundred feet by automobile could take the same amount of preparation as a trip of one hundred miles, the effort is disproportionately inconvenient and troublesome. And even when the water bike is at or near the water's edge, a solution for launching and towing over very short distances is just as important as long distances when the rider is unable to carry the craft alone and it is undesirable to drag the craft over land, especially when the terrain is treacherous.
Prior art reveals a very limited number and variety of solutions applicable to attaching wheels and towing devices to pontoon water bikes for pulling over land by pedestrian and bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,239, issued to Whitney (1981), reveals a dolly for a catamaran held in place under the catamaran hulls by a flexible line attached to the watercraft for hand towing by pedestrian. This system does not appear to offer a sturdy and reliable connection, especially when changing direction, nor does it have a solution for connecting to a bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,774, issued to White (1998), displays a trailerable amphibious bicycle with retractable wheels that is powered and trailered by the same bicycle. The craft is an integrated system with wheels already included and built specifically for that particular watercraft (and its related patent for an amphibious water craft, U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,406, as referenced and by the same owner), and therefore does not appear to be readily removable, transferable and easily attachable to other pontoon water bikes having transverse frame tubes with exposed ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,079, issued to Smidt (2000), discloses a folding pontoon boat with removable wheels attached to the pontoons for portage by hand. The wheels are specifically designed for and secured to those specific pontoons and do not appear to be readily transferable and attachable to other pontoon water bikes having transverse frame tubes with exposed ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,570 B1, issued to Johnson (2002), describes an attachable portage apparatus for a lightweight pontoon watercraft having a central frame, where a single removable wheel is attached to a central strut mounted to the central frame of the watercraft and is maneuvered over land by hand in wheelbarrow fashion. Johnson teaches away from attaching multiple wheels citing the single wheel design as an advantage to movement over uneven ground. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,817 B1, issued to Scadden (2006), exhibits a pontoon float boat with a single removable wheel fixed to a receiver on the platform structure between the floats for movement of the craft over land, also in a wheelbarrow fashion. While Johnson and Scadden have similar removably attached single wheel assemblies, Johnson uses a removably attached central strut mounted to the boat frame, while Scadden permanently mounts a single receiver to the boat platform structure intermediate between the floats. Neither would offer the balance of a multiwheel system, nor do they appear to be readily transferable and attachable to other pontoon water bikes having transverse frame tubes with exposed ends.
In conclusion, in so far as I am aware, no apparatus or system formerly developed allows for the attachment of multiple wheels and other devices, simultaneously, in various locations and configurations to a pontoon water bike having transverse frame members with exposed ends for towing by pedestrian and bicycle.